Neither the treasury nor the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security (IESS) have resources to cover the salary increase of teachers and the early retirements that they receive under the Reform Law of the Organic Law of Intercultural Education (LOEI).
This is the conclusion of two reports prepared by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) and the Actuarial, Research and Statistics Directorate of Social Security.
Both documents arrived on February 11 at the Education Commission of the National Assembly, which, by order of the Constitutional Court (CC), must correct gaps that it found in the norm, which entered into force on April 19 of last year. .
In August 201, the CC declared the constitutionality of the LOEI, but suspended the validity of the articles related to salary increases (with a new scale) and the creation of a special retirement system for teachers. He argued that neither the previous Executive nor the Legislative had done a financial feasibility analysis to identify the sources of financing.
And he gave the Assembly a period of 30 days to discuss and vote in two debates on the texts that ratify or correct those articles. This period began to run from the delivery of the technical reports of the institutions involved, which had six months to prepare them.
The MEF document says that the annual budget impact corresponding to the new scale would be $2,175 million. This “would imply an increase in public spending that would affect the existing fiscal deficit.” “The current income that finances the general budget of the State is insufficient to be able to cover the new ranks of the teaching profession. Additionally, as it is a permanent expense, according to the constitutional fiscal rule, it must be financed with permanent income, that is, taxes, rates and contributions, in order to avoid affecting the provision of public goods and services by reducing the space of other areas, such as health, social welfare…”, he indicates.
The permanent expenditure of the budget is 21,000 million; 41.5% goes to salaries and wages.
The IESS document also mentions that there would be 18,665 affiliated teachers who could benefit from special retirement. And that the financial cost for the entity to pay its pensions would amount to $1,082 million, “thus affecting the Pension Insurance reserves of all affiliates.”
In addition, the impact on health insurance for the medical coverage of these retirees would amount to about $23 million; and at the same time, only in the first year of validity of this specialized scheme, the IESS would stop receiving contributions for $266 million.
The Education Commission of the Assembly met these analyzes on February 14; and based on them, he decided to ask the president of the Legislature, Guadalupe Llori, to call the Minister of Economy and Finance, Simón Cueva, and the president of the IESS board, Francisco Cepeda, to present the figures. Manuel Medina (PK), president of the table, indicated that he has already spoken with her and that he will shortly make the call.
In the same resolution, according to the legislator, they request the Economic Regime Commission to also prepare a report indicating whether or not the resources exist.
He believes that there is money, but that there is no political will. However, he considers that if the authorities finally insist that there are no funds to cover these items, a query should be made to the CC so that it determines how the Assembly should proceed.
Inside the Commission there is also talk of proposing a political trial of Minister Cueva.
From the teachers sector, the MEF and IESS reports were rejected. They pointed out that the additional income that the treasury is receiving from high oil prices and the increase in tax collection should be used to pay the social debt and not to pay an unjust and immoral foreign debt.
And they do not rule out resuming demonstrations in the streets and hunger strikes. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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